15 States and D.C. Sue Trump Administration Over Decision to End DACA

Fifteen states and the District of Columbia filed a lawsuit in a federal court in Brooklyn Wednesday in an attempt to block President Trump’s decision to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program in six-months.

The lawsuit claims that Trump’s decision to end DACA is “illegal” and “a culmination of President’s Trump’s oft-stated commitments—whether personally held, stated to appease some portion of his constituency, or some combination thereof—to punish and disparage people with Mexican roots.”

“The consequence of the President’s animus-driven decision is that approximately 800,000 persons who have availed themselves of the program will ultimately lose its protections, and will be exposed to removal when their authorizations expire and they cannot seek renewal,” the lawsuit says.

The states also argue that they will suffer harm as a result of the decision.

“Rescinding DACA will cause harm to hundreds of thousands of the States’ residents, injure State-run colleges and universities, upset the States’ workplaces, damage the States’ economies, hurt State-based companies, and disrupt the States’ statutory and regulatory interests,” they claim.

The states ask that the Court prevent the federal government from “using data gathered for the DACA program in immigration enforcement.”

The lawsuit points out that those in the program “turned over sensitive information to the federal government in their applications” and “the DHS Memorandum does not explain how the government will keep that information secure, nor does it provide any assurances that immigration enforcement agents will not use such information to find and remove those who applied for DACA.”

The states in the lawsuit are New York, Massachusetts, Washington, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Virginia.

All of the Attorneys General involved in the suit are Democrats. California is absent because California Attorney General Xavier Becerra says he plans to file a separate lawsuit since a quarter of DACA recipients reside in California, according to his spokeswoman Bethany Lesser.